Sketch Challenge Winner & Featured Layouts

Let's start off this post by announcing the winner of our June Sketch Challenge.  The winner is entry #16, which belongs to Jessika of Sweden, who has won an assortment of Blue Fern Studios chipboard!  Jessika, please send me an e-mail, within the next 7 days, to {valerie(at)bluefernstudios(dot)com} to claim your prize.

 Take a look at this happy layout Jessika created using pieces of the Waterworks Frame chipboard piece.

The sketch challenge entries this month were outstanding!  There were so many awesome projects to choose from to feature this month, but we have narrowed it down to the following.  We hope you enjoy them!

The first featured project was created by Elena Lishchenko of Russia.  Elena entered a hand-made album cover in our sketch challenge, and it sure is beautiful!  The chipboard piece used on the cover is from the Deja Vu Dangles Chippies set, and the paper is from our Deja Vu collection.

In her blog post, Elena shows the inside of her album, which was also created using the Deja Vu collection.  She has several videos on her blog where she shows exactly how she stacked layer after layer of gorgeous paper from the Deja Vu collection to create each page inside the album.  Here's a peek inside:

Our second feature this month is from Pascale who lives in France.  We love that the pieces from the Turkish Bits, which she has painted black, provide the perfect background and texture for this elegant photo.

And our third feature this month is by Elena Volchkova of Ukraine. We fell in love with the softness Elena created using paper from the very first Blue Fern collection, Blue Fern Garden.  Elena used the Dresden Corsage, which she cut into several pieces, and sprinkled some of the Broken Rings around her layout. 

We couldn't stop at just 3 features this month, so we will continue!  This one uses

paper from the Deja Vu collection, and was created by Karine Gagnon of Canada.  Karine has added the Dresden Corsage chipboard piece to her layout, and used a piece from the Love, Happy, Smile set for the title.

The final feature from our June Sketch Challenge is from Yasmins of Norway.  Yasmins has a YouTube video on her blog where you can watch her process as she created this layout.  She used the Jeweled Page Dangles and Majestic Frame chipboard pieces.  We love how she altered the frame by adding some tiny beads.  

That's it for this month.  Congratulations to our winner, and the awesome women who created the five layouts/album we are featuring this month.  It was such a difficult choice, as always.  Thanks to ALL of you who took the time to enter our sketch challenge in June.

Our July sketch has been posted, and a link to it can be found in our right sidebar.  We hope you will join us once again in July. 

Girl time - by Zanka

Hey there!

Rummaging through my DT supplies from BFS, I found one more paper from Ombre dreams, which is a fanstastic collection to pick up at this time of the year, when the pictures are full of light. Well, at least usually they are-these days seem to be exceptionally cold and rainy in our region.

Nevertheles we managed to catch few rays of sunshine and sunglasses were very much needed :)

From the chipboard shelf I picked Turkish bits and fragments of Blue Fern frame. Both sets contain a lot of material, you can use pieces and they last forever. I've given them some treatment with embossing powder and paints.

 A close up:

Supplies: papers - Ombre dreams, Deja vu. Stamp - Love story 2 (Adore), Chipboards - Turkish bits, Blue Fern Frame.

For my second June project I picked totally different mood, an elegant vintage page created with a combo of Deja vu and Sanctuary. The border between the two papers is enhanced with a piece of damask chipboard.

As you can see, here I'm using not only the chipboards but also the loose bits from some sets. I primed them with gesso and coloured with watercolours, matching the colour scheme of the papers.
Supplies: papers: Sanctuary, Deja vu, stamps - Love story, chipboards - Turkish bits, Damask panel, Mini flourishes.
Thanks for stopping by!
DT Zanka.

Mixed media- with Keren Tamir

Hello Everyone, Its Keren here with two new projects for the Blue Fern Studios blog.

I really love experimenting with Mixed Media Products.

It has become my passion and so today I'm showcasing two different projects heavily based on mixed media using many different Blue Fern Studios chipboard pieces

First up is a 6x6 Shadow Box Frame Butterfly Canvas.

The whole canvas was inverted and framed with the Chelsea Frame. The frame was embossed in blue embossing powder and then dabbed with silver acrylic paint.

The centre of the canvas was filled with blue and silver glass beads. Then I glued a piece of the Turkish bits chipboard on the background.  Finally i used two butterflies from the Gabrielle butterfly set. All three pieces were embossed in either blue, silver or white respectively.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My Second project today is a Steampunk 8x10 Mixed Media Canvas using different mechanical looking chipboard pieces and a real light bulb.

Its called 

"Let there be light"

I glued many different mechanical chipboard pieces like the cogs and gears, the light bulbs, the industrial corner, the working parts and some of the moving parts chipboard pieces. 

They were all covered in black gesso and then painted on top with different metallic paints.

The final touch was adding a real light bulb from my house. We recently changed a few of our light bulbs inside our home and so I've been using them in many of my projects. I figure its better to recycle them than throw them away.

Thank you so much for visiting the Blue Fern Studios blog

have a fantastic day!!!

Keren

Two mixed media projects by Marie-Josée

 Hello all,

I hope you are doing fine today. In this blog post, I will show you two mixed media projects I created using some of my favorite pieces of Blue Fern Studios chipboard, which are perfect for mixed media projects.

"Adorable" kitty canvas

This is my beautiful kitty, Pretzel. She passed away on April 20 at the age of 16. I wanted to create something in her memory and I thought a canvas would be perfect.

First, I chose a 6" x 12" canvas. I cut a piece of the Mini Rings Panel and glued it to my canvas. Then, I applied gesso all over my canvas. I also applied gesso to the heart (from the Frilly Hearts set) and the circles (from the Graduated Circles set).

The word Adorable (from the French Words set) was heat embossed with black embossing powder.

Then, I painted the whole thing using various ColourArte products : paints, gels and mists. I mainly used teal, but I also added touches of gold and purple here and there. I finished with black and white ink splatters.

Here's a close-up view of the Frilly Heart and the Graduated Circles...

 

... and here's a closeup view of the background!

Blue Fern Studios products used:

Graduated Circles

Frilly Hearts

Mini Rings Panel

French Words

Angel canvas

 

 

For this canvas, I used the colors of the Déjà Vu collection as my inspiration. I used of piece of the Friperies paper as my starting point. I cut it to fit a piece of the Graduated Squares set.

Here's a closeup view of the Déjà Vu paper and a piece of the Graduated squares set.

I worked exactly the same way I worked for the previous canvas, using similar products. I just used different colors and different chipboards. Here you see a close-up view of a piece of the Turkish Bits set as well as of a piece of the Layering Stems set.

Finally, I also used a stamp from the Halftone Stamps set, which matches the Déjà Vu collection, with black ink.

Blue Fern Studios products used:

Graduated Squares

Turkish Bits

Layering Stems

Déjà Vu collection (Friperies paper and Halftone stamps)

April Sketch Challenge Winner and our Featured Layouts!

It's time for us to announce the winner of our April Sketch Challenge, but we would first like to take a moment to thank all of you who entered the challenge.  You sure do make us look good when you use Blue Fern products!

The winner of the April challenge is..............

entry #3 which belongs to Jessika of Sweden. 

  

Jessika, you have won a prize package of Blue Fern Chipboard!  

Please send me an e-mail, within the next 7 days, 

at {valerie(at)bluefernstudios(dot)com} to claim your prize.

Here's the beautiful layout Jessika created using one of our most popular 

chipboard sets, the Shabby Brick Bits!

Each month we like to feature a few layouts from our sketch challenge 

because we LOVE to show off how you use our products!  It just so happens that all three of the gorgeous layouts below were created by women from Australia. 

The first layout we are featuring this month was created by Alison Bevis.  Alison has used paper from the Ombre Dreams Collection (Shannon's Dream).  The large chipboard piece is a portion of the Industrial Corner, which she altered by heat embossing with several colors, and then adding mist.  What a beautiful look she achieved!  Her title, Love, is from the "Good Vibes" set of chipboard words.  There is absolutely so much to love about this layout, including the precious photo!

Mandie Meier used a gorgeous photo of her daughter for her layout.  The background paper is from the Blue Fern Ombre Dreams Collection.  Mandie accented the layout using the Tattered Diamond Bits chipboard piece as well as the "Love" chipboard piece from the Adore, Love, Cherish set of words.   This layout is so soft and sweet and beautiful!

Lizzy C has done some fabulous fussy cutting using our beautiful Montage Paper Collection.  She added the stunning Wild Flourish Frame and some of the Turkish Bits chipboard pieces to complete the look.  The way Lizzy altered the frame is nothing short of amazing.  We can't think of a better way to show off Blue Fern products!

Congratulations to our winner, Jessika, and the three very talented ladies whose layouts we have featured this month.  We hope you will take a moment to congratulate them!

Our May sketch has been posted.  You can find a link in the right sidebar.  

We hope to see lots of amazing layouts again this month.

Playing with darks and lights - by Zanka.

Hello friends!
I must say, I prefer to use light background for my layout rather than the dark ones. But the pattern of Bountiful (Sanctuary) is so elegant, that I just HAD TO give it a go.
So here is my layout with the dark background.
'SMILE'

I have used quite a lot of light elements for more contrast, I've even drawn leaves and branches with the white ink pen.
BFS chipboards used: Laughter, Happy , Smile; Turkish bits, Meadow Angelica, Lace rounds.

'XOXO'
With my second layout shared today, I'm back into my comfort zone, meaning light backgrounds :)
I used the new Deja vu collection, patterned paper and stamps.

I have used paper Tresors for this project. I have cut the paper in one-third and then glued it together again, arranging the border pattern in the middle (I learned this trick from Elena, who showed it in her tutorial here)
I have used the chipboards mainly to add dimension and texture.
BFS chipboards used: XOXO, Vintage labels, Gatsby collage.
Stamps: Halftone, Vintage edges.

Thanks for visiting BFS blog, enjoy !
Zaneta aka Zanka

February projects by Karita Vainio

Hi everyone! 

 I´m happy to be here today with you all!

Today I have a three layouts to share with you

and my first layout is made by following the february sketch. 

"Happy" layout of my sweet daughter.

For this layout I have used the beautiful Conservatory and Meadows of Time papers from the Sanctuary collection.
I have added some gesso and mists to the papers and also stamped a little bit from here and there.

Chipboards that I have used are Turkish Bits, Royal Monarchs and Happy.
I have painted the chipboards with Distress Ink  - Walnut Stain, except the Royal Monarch butterfly, which is painted with mists.

Paper: Sanctuary collection: Conservatory, Meadows Of Time

Chipboard: Turkish Bits, Royal Monarchy, Happy

And my 2nd layout. I called it "The Love Story"
 and I made it of my son and his girlfriend

For this layout I also used papers from the Sanctuary collection. They are called Birdsong Melody and Garden Plaza. And again I have added gesso and mists, my favourite tuff. 

Chipboards I have used are Shabby Brick Bits, Memory Frames and Arrow Words and I have painted them with a white acrylic paint.

Paper: Sanctuary collection: Birdsong Melody, Garden Plaza

Chipboard: Shabby Brick Bits, Memory Frames, Arrow Words

And my 3rd layout is made with the gorgeous papers from the new Love Story collection.
It´s called "Love" and it´s made of my darling husband.

For this layout I have used the Twenty One and Calling Cards papers.

 Added some gesso and mists and after that I have used the new Blue Fern Studios: Love Story 1 & 2 stamp sets.
Chipboards I have used are Mesh Bits, Love and Postage Frames and they are painted with white gesso.

Paper: Love Story collection: Twenty One, Calling Cards

Stamp: Love Story collection: 1 & 2

Chipboard: Mesh Bits, Love, Postage Frames

Thank you for looking!

January Sketch Challenge Winner and Featured Layouts

We are thrilled with the response to the January sketch.  It was our best month ever, so thanks to each of you who played along with us in January.  But don't stop there, the February sketch has already been posted.  You can find a link to it in our right sidebar.

As always, let's start with the winner.  Based on a random draw, the winner this month is ...........#4, which happens to belong to Laura Gilhuly of Canada!!

Congratulations Laura!  You have won a prize package of Blue Fern Chipboard!  

Please send me an e-mail, within the next 7 days, 

at {valerie(at)bluefernstudios(dot)com} to claim your prize.

Here is Laura's layout created using paper from our Sanctuary Collection and chipboard pieces (both the positive and negative) from our Turkish Bits.  We love how she colored the chipboard using mist, paint, and a little gesso.

Sometimes we just don't know when to stop.  So this month, we have even more layouts to feature, which isn't a bad thing!  You guys are just awesome.  Here we go.........

"Twinkle in Your Eyes" by Wendy Scholten

 This layout, with such an adorable photo, immediately caught our eye.  Wendy has used several papers from our beautiful Montage collection, one as the background and some fussy cutting from other papers.  She also used several pieces of Blue Fern Chipboard - the Checker Bits, Bohemian Flowers, Nested Circles, and the word Twinkle from our Winter Titles set.

"Fabulous"by Miki of Japan

Miki also chose paper from our Montage collection for her entry in the January Sketch Challenge.  The title is from one of our very popular sets, the Arrow Words.  We love how this all came together to create a beautifully designed layout.

"Happy" by Marina Timofeeva

Everything about this layout is "Happy".   Marina has used this happy paper with polka-dots from our Sanctuary collection.  The title is from The Optimist Word Set, and the other chipboard is from the Turkish Bits Set. 

"Left-Handed" by Sara K. 

On her blog, Sara says she really wasn't happy with this layout at first, but we love it!  What an adorable photo  - such concentration on that little face.  The Blue Fern chipboard stars, from our Seeing Stars set are the perfect touch. 

"Cherish"by Alena Grinchuk

Layouts don't always go as planned, which was the case with this one.  Alena had something else in mind when she began, but didn't like the photo she had chosen, so she switched to this black and white photo, instead.  The outcome is stunning!  The background paper and fussy cut flowers are from paper in our Montage Collection.

"Sweet Bundle of Joy" by Paulien van den Bosch

Our final choice for the month is this precious layout created using this dark navy paper from the Sanctuary collection.  Love how this came together, Paulien. Your grandson is so super cute!

 Congratulations to our winner and to the creators of our six featured layouts.  

We hope to see all of you again in February!